


The hardest walk

by GreenPhoenix



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 21:30:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6256624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenPhoenix/pseuds/GreenPhoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will has left Hannibal, and Hannibal has replaced him. Clarice needs to save Ardelia from the cannibal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The hardest walk

”What did he do to you?” enquires Jack Crawford of his former profiler.  
“What do you want to know?” says Will Graham. He’s pale and there’s some scarring to his face, but it’s clearly less obvious than it might have been without the help of a good surgeon. It’s three years since they last met.  
“Where is he?” asks Jack patiently.  
“I don’t know,” says Will. “He took off without telling me. He met a new agent and that was it.”  
“He left you? I don’t believe you,” says Jack. He knows the full, terrifying extent of Hannibal’s obsession with Will.  
“She was younger and prettier,” says Will.  
“Who is she?”  
“Your new little protégé. He likes us, doesn’t he? First Miriam, then me.”  
“Tell me,” says Jack.  
“Ardelia Mapp, “ says Will. “I bet she tastes good.”  
“She wouldn’t go off with a psycho.”  
“Not like I did?” asks Will. “Oh she would.”  
“What is he planning?”  
“To eat the rude,” says Will and smiles crookedly.  
“Do you love him?”  
Will snorts. “What is love, Jack? Is it what we had? If so, then yes.”  
“You need a better therapist.”  
“You introduced us in the first place.”  
“He dropped you and he has Ardelia.”  
“That’s too bad,” says Will.  
“We will have to hold you for your part in Dolarhyde’s death.”  
“Go on,” says Will.  
Jack sighs. Stockholm syndrome can only explain so much. The man who was his friend is gone, replaced by a violent killer with shark eyes.   
*  
They put Ardelia on the list of missing people.  
Will is in custody and says nothing useful while still getting under Jack’s skin.  
Freddie Lounds writes a scandalous piece calling Ardelia the lost beauty to Hannibal’s beast. She implies that he wrote her for months before they met. Freddie reports sightings of the pair of dubious veracity.  
Ardelia’s friend Clarice Starling vows to find her no matter what.

*  
Will gets put under care at the BSCHI, at the hands of Alana’s replacement, Paul Krendler. Will refuses to speak to anyone, except Clarice. Clarice decides to go see him, though Jack warns her that he might be uncooperative. Clarice recalls Ardelia’s hair in her hands, her breath warm against her cheek. She touches the ring Ardelia gave her, and it feels like its still warm from Ardelia’s hand.

*

“Where can I find Ardelia?” asks Clarice, voice steady and sharp.  
“I don’t know,” says Will Graham. “Someplace warm.”  
“You know Lecter better than anybody else alive. You must know.”  
“Perhaps.”  
“He really did a number on you.”  
“Is that what my file says? You can’t dissect me with such a blunt instrument, miss Starling.”  
“No. Do you not care about an innocent woman at the hands of a dangerous psychopath?”  
“Once I would have. “  
“And now?”  
“I only care for him, “ says Will sadly.  
“You left him.”  
“He left me.”  
“No, he never would have left you,” says Clarice.  
“Why not?”  
“He loves you. I talked to Bedelia du Maurier and she thinks so.”  
Will snorts. “Okay, so I left to find myself. Now I’m sorry I did.”  
“I want to see my friend again.”  
“Tell me what she is to you.”  
“My best friend..the only one who gets me. My..”  
“Say it, Clarice. Give voice to your love. Let it fly free.”  
“I love her, as you love him, with all my heart. Please help me find her, it serves both our interests.”  
“Argentina’s lovely this time of year,” says Will.  
“Thank you,” says Clarice.  
Barney comes to give Will his newspapers.

*

Jack hears nothing from Clarice for months; she’s gone to Argentina to find her friend. He knows she can find her. She has to. He bides his time and visits Miriam at the institution where she resides. Her therapist reckons she is doing reasonably well. 

 

*  
Clarice Starling comes to see Jack after her return from her journey.  
“It’s Ardelia,” she says.  
“Did you find her?”  
“I did. She came with me and she eventually recognized me. He gave her drugs and she forgot me.”  
“Will she be okay?”  
“I don’t know,” says Clarice. “I didn’t see him. He left her for me to find.”  
“Like Will,” sighs Jack.  
“No. Will left on his own. He walked out on Hannibal.”  
“Did he tell you so?”  
“It makes sense. He would never leave Will. Ardelia was a pastime. He kept talking about Will she says.”  
“But why did he leave?”  
“He didn’t say,” says Clarice.  
“He won’t give him up.”  
“He loves him,” says Clarice.  
“Will Hannibal come for Will?” asks Jack.  
“Probably.”   
“I’ll tell them to double the guards.”  
“Krendler,” scoffs Clarice. “I told him. But he’s such an odious little man. “  
“That he is, “agrees Jack.  
“He won’t double the guards. He can’t believe Hannibal could love anyone.”  
Jack sighs, knowing far too well that he can.

*  
Krendler grudgingly puts extra guards on Will Graham.  
Jack questions Ardelia, but she has little to say.  
She recalls good food, expensive clothes, but no places or names.  
She and Miriam Lass go to a therapy group together.  
Clarice is there for Ardelia every step of the way.   
In the darkness, Clarice is her light.

*  
Will breaks himself out, killing two guards in the process.  
Clarice tells Jack that Will has gone to Hannibal.  
Jack believes her.

*  
It’s in a hotel in France.  
Will looks at Hannibal and smiles.  
“Had your fun?” asks Hannibal as if he was out for a walk.  
“Very,” says Will. “I told them nothing.”  
“Why did you leave?”  
“To find myself again. To see if I could live without you.”  
“You couldn’t,” says Hannibal.  
“No,” agrees Will. “You could live without me.”  
“She was not you.”  
“Did you love her?”  
“No.”  
“I told Jack you left me.”  
“You lying little minx.”  
“Clarice guessed the truth.”  
“Indeed. That’s why she’s alive.”  
“Will you kill me?”  
“No,” says Hannibal and kisses him. “I love you.”  
“I love you as well. I give up now.”  
“Good boy,” says Hannibal. “I’ll prepare dinner.”  
“Who are we having?”  
“A steward,” says Hannibal and goes to make dinner.

*  
Clarice sits on the park bench, Ardelia beside her.  
“It’s a beautiful day,” she says lightly.  
“Yes,” says Ardelia.  
“Do you feel better?” she enquires.  
“I was dreaming and you weren’t there..”  
“I’m here now,” says Clarice and takes her hand.  
“I won’t get lost again,” says Ardelia.   
“I love you,” says Clarice, her eyes warm.  
Ardelia kisses her.

*

 

After dinner Hannibal orders Will to undress and lie down on the bed. He obeys without thinking.  
“You left,” says Hannibal, and slides his belt from his pants. “You tried to forget me.”  
“I couldn’t,” says Will and turns over.  
The first blow hurts, and he squirms even as he hears Hannibal’s voice break slightly.  
“You will never leave me again. “  
Another blow, not hard.  
“No,” he agrees.  
He feels the next few blows, and then Hannibal uses his hand to soothe the hurt.  
“You know why I had to discipline you,” he says, spreading a salve over Will’s ass to ease the pain.  
“I do. Will you fuck me?” Will asks.  
Hannibal says nothing but he undresses and slides down next to Will.  
The fuck is rough and so harsh Will bites Hannibal’s shoulder to bear it.  
Even as he’s being used for his lover’s pleasure Will feels a reflected pleasure and it feeds back into him, and he’s panting with the intensity of Hannibal’s desire.  
He comes, feeling forgiven and cherished despite it all.  
Hannibal whispers his endearments as they fall asleep next to each other.  
The air is humid and the night full of promise.


End file.
